1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for protecting a rear passenger seated on a rear seat for an automotive vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Recent years, in order to meet diversified demands of consumers and provide passengers with wider rear view and more open feeling, automotive vehicles have been provided which have an overall outlook designed in a smoothly curved shape and which is provided with a back window panel having a panel area wider than conventional ones.
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication (kokai) No. 194,037/1988, there is the recently increasing tendency that a rear header is disposed above a rear seat from the point of view of designing or enlarging a space within a vehicle compartment. In other words, for such automotive vehicles, the rear header is disposed above the head of the rear passenger seated on the rear seat, as a reinforcing member located at a rear end of the roof, and the back window panel is disposed to be directed in an obliquely downward direction from the rear header. Hence, the position of the rear header relative to the rear seat is moved to the forward position of the vehicle body as compared with conventional ones.
When the position of the rear header relative to the rear seat is moved in the forward direction as compared with conventional ones, a glass panel area of the back window glass can be made so wider than the conventional ones that an enlarged rear view can be given, thereby providing the passenger with open feeling. It is to be noted, however, that, for example, when the rear passenger seated on the rear seat is caused to be lifted upwards by full rebounding the vehicle body particularly in the event that the automotive vehicle is about to roll, or for other reasons, the head of the rear passenger may come close to the back window panel or a view outside the automotive vehicle may catch an eye of the rear passenger in such a state that the passenger is lifted upwards, so that this provides the rear passenger with psychologically great anxiety.
However, conventional automotive vehicles cannot wipe out such psychological anxiety on the part of the rear passenger due to, among others, a lack of the freedom of arranging for the rear portion of the vehicle body, particularly for the position of the rear header in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, i.e. the size of the back window panel.